Thanksgiving In Hawaii

We spent 12 beautiful days on the Big Island of Hawaii! The vacation was splendid, wonderful, relaxing and energizing. Each day we were there we found a different beach to relax, swim, snorkel or buggie board on. We did take one non-beach day to visit the Volcano National Park. The kids had a blast and they even adjusted to Hawaii time, unlike our last visit to the islands. Seriously, last trip they both woke up around 4:30 AM everyday!!!

Some friends of ours from California, The Dickie Family moved to the Kona, HI area a few years ago and we were blessed to be able to spend Thanksgiving Day with them! Actually we spent several days with Brad, Julie and CJ eating, swimming, playing cards and dominoes while we were in Kona. It felt like old times, but only while on vacation! :)

Micah... Our Official Tween! YIKES!

Micah turned 11 years in November as well! I love it that our kiddo's birthdays are a week a part from each other! Micah is a smart, joyful, motivated, methodical, compassionate and confident young man.

Amanda Makes Three Look Good!!!

Our Sweet Girl turned three years old in November!!! She is such a joy and a blessing! Amanda is a happy, silly, joyful, charming little girl!

Prince Charming

Thought I would share something that melts my heart, but makes Micah roll his eyes! Everytime Amanda watches Cinderella she runs to the screen and points to Prince Charming and yells, "Micah! There's Micah!" It's so adorable, but Micah can't stand it. LOL! So what's your opinion? Do you think Micah might have a gig at Disneyland or Disney World in about 10 years? ;-)

Playing Catch Up

It's been a while since the last time I have written on my blog. We experienced, what seemed to be the longest summer ever. YUCK! We had 65+ days of 100 degree weather or higher! YUCK! YUCK! YUCK! It was miserable to say the least. Then school started (with the heat) and I was not inspired to do much, let alone write much because I'm sure it would of come out very negatively. Now that Autumn is here, with lots of rain and cooler temps, I'm inspired more or less to share what's on my heart and mind. :) So here's an update on us.

Soowan has been busy at work. He's been traveling a lot more than I would prefer, but we're all adjusting to it. Soowan will start working out of the house in January, which will be interesting. I'm so bad about distracting him when he's home, so I will need to be on my best behavior. :)


Micah started the 5th grade in August and so far, so good! He loves all his teachers and has adjusted well to moving from classroom to classroom. I love that his school doesn't have a one size fits all curriculum for elementary/middle school. The kids are able to do curriculum to their ability, even if the student is the only 5th grader in a room full of 7th and 8th graders. :)

Micah is also loving his new soccer team! The commitment level and expectations of playing on a select team has not only challenged Micah skill wise, but also character wise. We are blessed that Micah's coaches are godly men who challenge and minister to the boys both on and off the soccer field. Plus their example on how they coach and conduct themselves on and off the soccer fields is inspiring to us all! It's very disheartening watching how some coaches yell, curse and demean their players at some of our games and tournaments, while their parents concur with this type of coaching. Our prayer is that our team will be a light to others in both conduct and ability. So far, we see God moving in this area. :)














Amanda started preschool in September! She goes 2 days a week and is LOVING IT! Amanda is still doing speech therapy through our county's program, and sadly this will end in 2 weeks when she turns 3 years old. Amanda loves her speech therapist, Mrs. T and we are thrilled that she lives in our neighborhood, so we know we'll still get to see her often. Amanda was denied continued services through our county (long story, but budget cuts has lots to do with it), so we will start private speech therapy at the beginning of next year. We have already found a therapist that Mrs. T recommended and our insurance will cover 70% of the cost!

Amanda is loving anything and everything girly! She loves to dress up, everything Disney Princess (Snow White is her fav) and playing with her kitchen and tea sets. It's so much fun to watch her play pretend and use her imagination. It's very sweet and makes me smile. :) With that said, there is also a very active, sporty side to my girly girl as well. She can already dribble kick a soccer ball and strike a pretty mean goal for her age and size. I think all the hours we spend a week with Micah's soccer team, she's catching on. She can also swing a bat pretty darn well too! So I see both soccer and softball in her future, if she desires to do so. :)


As for me I'm doing much better now that the weather is cooler. :) I'm back out in my garden, planning and preparing new flower beds and enjoying every minute my hands are in the soil. I'm meeting new friends within our neighborhood and new church. Once again God is faithful to provide these friendships for He knows that He created me as a very relational being. I must admit I miss, miss, miss my friends and church family in Dallas (and CA) desperately, but God has us here for a reason and he's slowly showing us the reason why, layer by layer. This move has been extremely hard for all of us on so many levels, but we're trusting in God and His faithfulness as to why He moved us here and finding healing in both the new and the old.



I will most likely post more often as we have a lot to celebrate and share in the near future! Both of the kids will turn a year older next month, along with a much needed vacation coming up, and the holidays are right around the corner as well. The upcoming birthdays and holidays will be tough, for they will be the first one's we'll have without my Mom. So please keep us in your prayers that our sorrow will not overwhelm the joy in all that we will be celebrating in the near future. Thanks.

Summer of '09

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the summer so far!

The Sweetest 'First'

As a Mom you always enjoy all the 'firsts' your children will do and say as they grow. But there is always one that will be forever etched into a Mother's heart and mind... The first 'I LOVE YOU'.

It happened today with my sweet girl. I was buckling her into her car seat after dropping Micah off at music camp, and Amanda reach her arms out and said, "I love you Mom." Ahh... those four words completely melted my heart, and yes I did get a little teary. But what brought me to tears is when I turned on the car the song playing on the radio was, When Love Takes You In, by Steven Curtis Chapman. Coincidence? I think not. I believe it was a 'love note' from my Abba Father... Saying YOU and SHE are LOVED! :)

Summer Lovin'

It's certainly been a while since the last time I've written anything on my blog. We sure have been busy bees the past couple of months. Here's the readers digest version of what we've been up to.

~ Micah tried out for a select soccer league and he's now a member of the Crossfire Soccer Club. We love his new team and the coaches. We're looking forward to the season starting with a 3-day Labor Day tournament.

~ Micah is now an official 5th grader! Hard to believe this will be his last year in elementary school.

~ Amanda is fully potty trained!!! WOO-HOO!

~ Amanda's speech is improving more and more each day. She's building her vocabulary and is beginning to express her wants, needs and thoughts more independently... without prompting from us, or just parroting what we say.

~ We took an eleven day vacation to Williamsburg, VA and Washington DC. We had a blast! Micah is our little history buff so he enjoyed touring all the historical sites, museums and monuments. We also went to Virgina Beach for a day (felt sooooo good swim in the ocean and feel the sand in between my toes) and spent a day at Busch Gardens Williamsburg! Tons of fun!

~ Soowan is enjoying his new job and received a promotion last month! He is now regional sales director over the Houston, Austin, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, Portland and Seattle offices. This new position does require some additional travel, but the plus side is that myself and the kids are traveling with him on all the trips he will be taking this summer!

I think that covers it!!! There is still so much more of summer to enjoy, but it always seems to go by too fast. I received an email today from Micah's school this morning with the '09-'10 calendar and a request form for which elective he would like to take. CRAZY! Plus Target already has all their back-to-school junk out. BOO... HISS! I so don't want to think about school starting back up a month and a half from now.

Still so much for us to enjoy!!! Here's a run down of what we have planned...

~ We're having a HUGE block party for the 4th of July! Bounce houses, water slides, snow cone machine, good Texas BBQ and a round of water balloon baseball are all on the agenda! I love our new neighborhood (or should I say street)!!!

~ Micah has a music camp and VBS to look forward to. He will also be flying out to CA (by himself) to spend a week with his best bud Zachary in August.

~ A couple of 2-3 day trips to Dallas, San Antonio and Galveston!

~ Our 12 year wedding anniversary!!!

... and several birthday parties, bbq's and dinners with new friends we are meeting here in Austin. God is so good!

OK... I know I said I didn't want to talk about school starting, but I wanted to share that we found the PERFECT preschool for Amanda!!! She will be going 2 days a week starting after Labor Day! YEAH!